Where to See Atlanta’s Civil Rights Monuments

Atlanta is widely regarded as the spiritual heart of America's civil rights movement. But, long before leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Andrew Young became icons of the movement, African Americans in the city were paving the way for the upheaval and change that was to come.

Not surprisingly, several of the city's civil rights monuments built by monumental sculpture artists can be found at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, but there are others, including a statue of Dr. King at the Georgia State Capitol.

Here are ten of our personal favourites. Some are well-known, while others are less well-known but are equally important to the city's legacy.

Martin Luther King Jr. Statue

Martin Luther King Jr. is a civil rights icon in the United States. Dr. King, a graduate of Atlanta's Booker T. Washington High School and Morehouse College, went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Location: Georgia State Capitol

Artist: Martin Dawe

Andrew Young Statue

Andrew Young, a civil rights activist and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s protégé, served as mayor of Atlanta and as the United States' ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter. At the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he collaborated with Dr. King to coordinate efforts to desegregate the South.

Location: Corner of Andrew Young International Boulevard and Spring Street

Artist: John Paul Harris

John Wesley Dobbs Statue, “Through His Eyes”

John Wesley Dobbs was an Atlanta civic and political figure who was known as the unofficial "mayor" of the city's famed Auburn Avenue.

Location: Auburn Avenue at Fort Street

Artist: Ralph Helmick

Charles Lincoln Harper Statue

Charles Lincoln Harper was the first principal of Atlanta's Booker T. Washington High School, the city's first public school for African Americans after the sixth grade. He was the president of the NAACP's Atlanta branch.

Location: Ashby Garden Park at Ashby Circle NW and Mayson Turner Road

Artist: Ed Dwight

“Expelled Because of Their Color”

This monumental sculpture Atlanta honours African American legislators in Georgia who were expelled from the Georgia General Assembly during Reconstruction due to their race. The legislators, led by Henry McNeal Turner, successfully lobbied the federal government to re-elect them. (From the New Georgia Encyclopedia).

Location: Georgia State Capitol

Artist: John Thomas Riddle Jr.

Benjamin Mays Statue

Benjamin Mays, president of Morehouse College from 1940 to 1967, was a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He presided over the desegregation of Atlanta Public Schools as the first African American president of the Atlanta Board of Education.

Location: Morehouse College

Artist: Ed Dwight

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Mural

This massive mural honours civil rights icons such as Rosa Parks, Bobby Kennedy, Malcolm X, and Emmett Till, to name a few. Bull Connor, the Birmingham segregationist known for ordering police to use dogs and fire hoses on civil rights demonstrators, is also depicted. The mural has been removed while the area is being renovated. It will be reinstalled in a new location.

Location: 450 Auburn Ave.

Artist: Louis Delsarte

“Lifting the Veil of Ignorance”

According to the Booker T. Washington Society, this statue depicts Washington lifting the veil of ignorance from his people, represented by a terrified slave holding a book representing education. The statue in Atlanta is a replica of the original, which is located on the grounds of Tuskegee University and the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site.

Location: Booker T. Washington High School

Artist: Charles Keck

Homage To King

Visitors to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park are greeted by this steel sculpture.

Location: Intersection of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Freedom Parkway

Artist: Xavier Campaney Medina

“Behold”

The statue depicts an African ritual in which a newborn is lifted up toward the heavens and the words "Behold the only thing greater than yourself" are recited.

Location: Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park

Artist: Patrick Morelli

Find out more about Atlanta's civil rights history. And don't forget to pay a visit to Atlanta's National Center for Civil and Human Rights, where you can sit at a mock lunch counter wearing headphones that deliver angry insults in an exhibit evoking 1960s lunch counter sit-ins.